Tag Archives: nigel owens

The dust has settled on a thrilling weekend of sports. Although none of the teams I was up for won, all the eventual winners were well and truly deserved. Barcelona showed Manchester United how football should be played. I have heard numerous comments from sport pundits stating that it was great to see a classy team win the Champions League.

There is truth in this. Barcelona play a very stylish, fluid passing game. They are fantastic to watch and extremely hard to beat as United will testify. They appear to be a very tight squad of players led by the Barca legend, Pep Guardiola. Guardiola is a gentleman. He is a stylish man in how he dresses and in how he conducts himself and his team. It was wonderful to see Barcelona captain, Carlos Puyol pass the captain’s armband to his team mate Eric Abidal to give him the honour of lifting the Champions League trophy. Abidal has battled back from surgery on a liver tumour he underwent on March 17th. It is a great testament to the man that was back to lift the much sought after European trophy and a great testament to his teammates that they should recognize his very personal battle. Barcelona are deserved Champions of Europe.

Saracens v Leicester Tigers

Saracens are the Aviva Premiership Champions. Sarries overcame former champions Leicester Tigers in a thrilling match in Twickenham yesterday. Referee, Wayne Barnes saw fit to play 9 minutes of extra time in which Tigers had over 30 phases of play in their attempt to score a winning try. Saracens held Leicester Tigers at bay and celebrated only their second trophy in their history. With the squad of players coaches Venter and McCall have at their disposal, one guesses there may be more trophies heading to Vicarage road over the next few seasons. Saracens hooker Schalk Brits continued his great run of form yesterday. He was very impressive in his lineout throwing, his scrummaging and particularly his loose play, setting up a try for winger, Short.

No matter how good a hooker is in the loose, he needs to score a very high percentage in the accuracy of his throwing. Hookers are almost expected to have the dynamism of back row players these days but they must get their basic jobs of throwing and hooking done effectively. Brits did that yesterday and that may have been the difference between the two sides. Leicester Tigers struggled to get their usually dominant lineout functioning properly, largely thanks to the defensive work of Sarries captain, Steve Borthwick. For large parts of the game yesterday, Saracens also had the upper hand on Tigers in the scrums. If you can disrupt a team’s set piece, i.e. scrums and lineouts, you can effectively starve the opposition back line of decent ball from which to attack. This is one themes of yesterday’s final and a very influential one at that. Saracens are deserved Champions of England.

Munster v Leinster

Munster beat Leinster yesterday and in doing so became the Magner League Champions 2011. With all the focus on Leinster’s successes in recent times it is good to see Munster still possess the fiery will and determination which has made them one of Europe’s top rugby sides. There is a never say die attitude within the province and is was on display yesterday. Munster are undefeated at home this season. One could argue that last week’s epic Heineken Cup Final took it’s toll on Leinster who did seem fatigued, but that is taking nothing away from the men in red.

Munster had not scored a try against their provincial neighbours in over 400 minutes of rugby before yesterday. Tries from Howlett and Earls plus their warranted penalty try ensured that record would not continue. Munster did not have it all their own way and played the game a man down for 10 minutes while O’Callaghan was in the sin bin. The flash of the yellow card can be the making or breaking of teams. Being a man short in the forwards can increase the awareness and work rate of the 7 remaining players and it did just that for Munster yesterday who courageously defended their own try line. Mentally, this can be a massive boost for a team and cause the attacking team to question themselves.

Munster hooker, Varley will feel disappointed with the way the lineouts went as will Leo Cullen of Leinster. It is peculiar to see the touch judge move away from the lineout before the ball is thrown as was the case on numerous occasions yesterday. The touch judge is meant to keep an eye out for crooked throws by standing right behind the hooker as he throws the ball into the lineout. For some reason yesterday the touch judges seemed more keen to give the hooker his mark before scrambling off for a good view of the ensuing play. This may have saved the Munster hooker from a number of crooked throws being called against him.

Normally Varley’s throwing is dependable. There is nothing more frustrating for a hooker than to throw below par. One presumes he will get a chance to redeem himself, should he be part of Ireland’s preparations for the upcoming world cup. Leinster’s lineout did not function as well as they did the previous week. O’Connell would have studied countless hours of video containing clips of Leinster’s lineouts over the past few weeks. As a result, Munster’s defensive lineout was very effective. As a hooker, it can be terrifying throwing against a defensive lineout that consistently gets a man up in the air. It puts a lot of pressure of the hooker to ensure that his throws are very accurate. Psychologically it can be draining and damaging. Neither teams seemed to trust their lineout yesterday.

The men in red finished at the top of the league before the semi finals. A sure sign that Munster are deserved Magners League Champions 2011.

Gavin Hickie, USA Rugby U20s Forwards Coach, is a former Ireland, Leinster and Leicester rugby player now based in California and taking rugby to the USA. He writes for RugbyMag.com and other publications when not coaching for Belmont Shore and blogging on lineoutcoach.com #busy

We have barely caught our breath in Ireland. We have been visited by Queen Elizabeth II and President Obama over the past two weeks. Both were welcome guests to our shores. Sandwiched between our two visitors, rugby fans all over the world watched an epic Heineken Cup Final which saw Leinster overcome a 16 point half time deficit. It’s been a fantastic few weeks and there is still more to look forward to this Saturday in Thomond Park in Limerick, Leinster meet Munster in the Magners League Grand Final in an all Irish affair.

Leinster, fresh from their impressive comeback against Northampton will go into the game as firm favourites. They will be without centre Gordon D’arcy who has not recovered from an ankle injury he picked up during last week’s game. Fergus McFadden will fill the number 12 jersey. Scrum half Isaac Boss is also a slight doubt but is expected to recover. Saturday’s game marks the end of the club season and it is befitting to see the reining Magners League Champions take on the newly crowned European Champions.

Leinster have prevented Munster from scoring a try against them for over 400 minutes. On the last occassion the two sides met, Munster were victorious by a single point in Thomond Park on April 2nd, thanks to the boot of outhalf Ronan O’Gara. No doubt the Irish international will play a key role in Munster’s attempts to retain their title. Much has been said of the competitive rivalry between Leinster’s Sexton and Munster’s O’Gara. Saturday’s match will bring another chance for everyone to decide who they believe should start for Ireland in the upcoming World Cup. Sexton’s outstanding second half display last Saturday will have done his chances of starting for Ireland in the World Cup no harm at all. The Leinster outhalf scored an incredible 28 points against Northampton in the Heineken Cup Final.

It will be interesting to watch both Leinster’s and Munster’s lineout plays. Against Northampton, Leinster only called shortened lineouts and moved the ball off the top to the scrum half. They did this so as not to engage in mauling with the Saints and also to keep a high tempo to the game. Leinster hooker Strauss threw well last week and has done all season. He has been one of Leinster’s star players this year and it is good news for the provence that he is staying for at least another two seasons. The roof of the Millennium Stadium was closed for last week’s Heineken Cup Final so the hookers and kickers did not have to contend with any wind. There are not many excuses a hooker can use if he throws a crooked lineout indoors! This weekend will be different. The weather forecast is predicting wind and rain.

Munster’s hooker Varley will surely be pushing for a world cup spot should the injured Flannery not make it back in time. Varley may try to impress upon Ireland Coach Declan Kidney, his rapport with Munster and Irish second rows, O’Callaghan and O’Connell. Therein lies another interesting and inevitable battle. Leo Cullen has been heroic for Leinster not only this season but for years. The Leinster captain showed great awareness in calling his team’s lineout attack and defense against the Saints. It is always very reassuring for a hooker to have a real lineout leader calling the plays. Cullen inspires confidence in hooker Strauss and the rest of his Leinster team mates. The result is Leinster’s highly effective lineout.

Munster’s lineout is a potent weapon itself. O’Callaghan and O’Connell have been the foundation of the Munster and Irish pack for many seasons. Both men have been magnificent servants to both club and country. Each of them may see the upcoming world cup in New Zealand as their last, as will Cullen more than likely. These guys will not give an inch against each other on Saturday. The lineouts are going to be an extremely important source of possession for each team this weekend. We will undoubtedly see an array of different calls, movements and throws as both packs try to outfox each other. Cullen will be calling lineouts against O’Connell’s defense and vice versa. It will be very intriguing to see who wins this battle.

There is a strong sense of belief within the Leinster camp these days. The squad sense that they are on the cusp of a truly historical achievement. No team has ever won the Magners League and the Heineken Cup in the same year. In a soccer context, it’s like winning the English Premiership and the Champions League in the same year. Manchester Untied, Barcelona and Leinster all have the chance on Saturday to win their respective “doubles”. United and Barca have already won their domestic leagues and face off in a potentially enthralling Champions League final on the same day as Leinster face Munster for their domestic title. An explosive day of sports lies in store. The season is almost over……for a month.

Leinster v Munster – enjoy!

Gavin Hickie, USA Rugby U20s Forwards Coach, is a former Ireland, Leinster and Leicester rugby player now based in California and taking rugby to the USA. He writes for RugbyMag.com and other publications when not coaching for Belmont Shore and blogging on lineoutcoach.com #busy